Kylian Mbappé and Presnel Kimpembe jump as much as they can on the large, rectangular table in the middle of the house’s dressing room in the Parc des Princes. Water is thrown on them, Sergio Rico joins them, as do Idrissa Gueye and Rafinha. Other players and staffers rhythm the table while chanting, “We’re in the semifinals! We are, we’re, we’re in the semifinals!”
Marquinhos, in his immaculate white hoodie, is there too. He was injured and missed Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich – a result good enough to see Paris Saint-Germain advance to the next stage of the Champions League with away goals – but we could get his vote from the stands hear, encourage his teammates.
Leandro Paredes, one of the leaders of this team, keeps shouting: “Vamos! Vamos!” every time he hugs a teammate. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the PSG president, has welcomed every player into the locker room and then congratulates them a second time by walking around, like Leonardo, the sporting director.
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Manager Mauricio Pochettino has to leave to do all his post-game media duties, but the big smile on his face says it all. This is a cheerful dressing room – one very happy dressing room. PSG are in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive season and they are slowly but surely strengthening their place among the top European clubs and eternal Champions League contenders.
This time they got there on the right track – over two legs, defeating first Lionel Messi and now Bayern, the world and European champions. Each time it was a real battle, a nerve-racking scenario. But in both bands the spirit and solidarity of Paris Saint-Germain reigned.
Kylian Mbappé and Keylor Navas were of course the heroes of the two matches against Barcelona and the one in Munich. Remarkably, the Costa Rica goalkeeper has yet to lose a two-legged Champions League match in which he played. And Neymar, who was named man of the match on Tuesday, was once again the star of the show, even if he should at least have won. one of the opportunities he has created.
However, Paris went ahead, as they played as a team in the first place. This is the message Pochettino has been telling his players since day one: we can have great individuals like Neymar, Mbappé or Angel Di Maria, but we can only get far if we do all of this together, otherwise it won’t be possible.
At halftime of the first leg, when Bayern dominated the game, he told his men to stay calm and to score and win again. It happened. On Tuesday, Pochettino said that they could take the pressure in the second half after Bayern took the lead just before half-time. And they did.
This PSG team won because they have become a definition of mental and collective strengths, with special talents within the group.
They took advantage of all the players Bayern missed (Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka), of course, but the Parisians also had problems. They didn’t have Marco Verratti or Alessandro Florenzi for either game, while Marquinhos lasted only 30 minutes in the first leg and is now eliminated until the first leg in the semi-final. Paredes, of whom Pochettino has become such an important part of the team, was suspended from the game last week.
Paris had their problems, but they rose above them to make sure their Champions League adventure continued. Ahead of this second leg, Joshua Kimmich – arguably the best No. 6 in the world – said he was “confident that Bayern would continue because they are the best team in the world.”
Let’s just say these comments didn’t go unnoticed, especially by Neymar, who used them as extra motivation.
And when Daniele Orsato, who was the referee eight months ago in the Champions League final PSG lost to the Germans, whistled for the last time at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday evening, the Brazilian superstar almost celebrated with Paredes in the face of Kimmich – – a scenario that Neymar said was fate.
“It’s funny because I didn’t even celebrate messing with him; it was more with Leo, and I ended up celebrating with him. [Kimmich]Neymar said after the game.
There was an element of revenge on Tuesday night, even though no payers really said it that way. The demons of the 2017 Remontada against Barcelona have now disappeared after the last 16 of this season. The ghosts of the 2020 final against Bayern have now also disappeared. Earlier this season, the team also sent in the bad memories against Manchester United from 2019 by winning at Old Trafford.
It was a season of Champions League retaliation for Paris, and now there is no stopping it, even if Pochettino insists they are not the favorites to win it.